Search - Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Leningrad Military Orchestra :: Tchaikovsky: 1812

Most epical "1812" I've heard

Ilja Sulik | Slovakia | 05/07/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I have several "1812" Ouvertures in my collection (12 CDs), this is the first "russian" - I mean conductor and orchestra + choir. I always knew, it's must be a different "colour" of sound and tempo than in other versions... and so it is. The male and female choir is wonderful, the tempo slow and majestic (16:03 min, one of the long version), the cannons are real, the bells ringing full of glory ... and the last 2 minutes of the "1812" are pure magic - first the female voices, then strings with orchestra a few seconds later comes male voices up and then all again with the cannons and the bells, slowly, epic, dramatic ... majestic long-ending singing into "finale grande". OK, not the best sound ever (but sure 4 stars), but the artistic performance is GREAT (5 stars). You can get this version of "1812" (incl. the others titles on this CD) in "Ultimate Tchaikovsky" (5-CD box, Decca, see on amazon.com) too, is even more cheaper."